#34: Ballistic

"It's extensive," Betty said, closing the gate behind them. She felt the wind tug at her skirt. "Look at the potential, with so many possibilities."

The dynamics between Carol and Burt meant she needed to emphasise the wide open paddock to Burt, the benefit of having his sheep roaming free right above his head. It is always hard for a farmer used to thousands of acres to downsize because he is getting old. These ol'timers don't want to admit defeat. They never have before.

For Carol, well, that's an entirely different story. How to sell a hole underground to a woman who prides herself on her house. She raised her six children on that farm, baked cakes for the local cake stalls each year, run the local women's association from her kitchen table, rallied when the community was ravished by floods, or fire, or nearly died of thirst.

It took a lot to survive out here.

"It should be nice and cool all year round. When it is baking outside, it'll be the perfect temperature."

"But you wouldn't know what time of day it was," Carol said. This was the first thing she has said all day. Not even a 'good morning' when Betty picked them up.

"There are a couple of places where daylight floods in," Betty said. There are still things that are classified, such as those shafts were the launching pads for the American intercontinental ballistic missiles that were aimed at China. "I can imagine it to be the perfect place for the enormous kitchen."

Carol dismissed the suggestion with a brief but powerful snort. She reminded Betty of a bull infuriated in a bullring. It was only a matter of time before she unleashed on her husband, or worse, on her.